There may be no more frustrating part of being a sports fan than having no control.
Like in 2005 when I watched Game 5 of the NBA Finals in an Elmore bar willing Rasheed Wallace to guard Robert Horry when the game was on the line. Did it work? No. Instead, I got to watch in misery as the Will Smith lookalike buried the gamewinner for the Spurs in overtime.
Or Sunday when I was at Progressive Field watching Papa Grande blow a save situation and subsequently push the Tigers farther back in the AL Central standings.
It's a wonder that fantasy sports are so popular as it's just as maddening as it is satisfying.
What it's provided for me this week is something to take my mind off the Tigers seemingly squandering their season away.
A guy who should be squandered away on your bench this week is Mikel Leshoure. The Lions running back was drafted last season but hasn't appeared in a regular season game yet. He tore his Achilles last year in the preseason and subsequently spent his year on the IR. Thanks to some ingestion of some "herbal" supplements this offseason, he was suspended the first two games of the year. Now he gets to make his debut this weekend.
Kevin Smith has been what we've seen before in the first half, Joique Bell stole some of his carries away. Leshoure was a beast at Illinois and the Lions need someone to be able to run the ball effectively to keep defenses honest. Even former fantasy stars Ryan Grant and Steve Slaton made appearances in Detroit this week for tryouts. While he's unproven, it won't take much to wrestle the starting job away. Certainly worth a flyer.
Speaking of flyers, where did Dennis Pitta come from? Well, if you were paying attention last year, and judging by his ownership at the beginning of the season, you weren't, he finished 2011 strong. He outpaced Ed Hickson in the last six weeks of the year scoring three touchdowns among 15 catches and 161 yards.
In the first two weeks of this year, the Baltimore tight end leads all TEs in targets this year with 24. He's made 13 grabs for 138 yards and a score. Definitely worth a pickup as Flacco is clearly seeking him out so far this year.
Another sought out tight end so far is Martellus Bennett of the Giants. Keep in mind, Jake Ballard last year quietly had a nice season with 604 yards and four scores. With Ballard out of the picture, there's no reason to think Bennett couldn't exceed those numbers. With nine catches among 16 targets, Bennett has amassed 112 yards already and two scores. Think Marcedes Lewis of 2010, except with a much better quarterback.
The last tight end to talk about is Kellen Winslow, who is no soldier by any wild stretch of the imagination. But he is employed again as the Patriots signed him to replace Aaron Hernandez who will be out until mid October minimum with an ankle sprain. Winslow was a top 13 TE last year with 763 yards and two scores. New England loves their tight ends and if you lost Hernandez, Winslow could be a nice stop gap in the meantime to plug that hole.
A couple of other running backs to keep an eye on this week are Andre Brown and Daryl Richardson.
Brown takes over for the injured Ahmad Bradshaw who is expected to be tonight. He had a respectable 90 yards on 15 touches and a touchdown in relief of Bradshaw last week. Certainly worth picking up as a handcuff if you area Bradshaw owner but I wouldn't expect much out of him long term at this point. And David Wilson owners may want to pay attention that it was Brown that got the touches, not Wilson, when Bradshaw went out.
Richardson is the other rookie by the same name, just not as costly for the Rams as his namesake was for the Browns. The Abilene Christian rookie came in relief of Steven Jackson last week, getting 17 touches for 102 yards. Interestingly enough, like the Wilson situation above, it was Richardson getting the call and not Isaiah Pead, who many Jackson owners drafted as his handcuff (or eventual replacement). Jackson has a groin injury, which is an injury that's kept him out in previous seasons for a game or two so Richardson is worth the pickup if you are Jackson's owner or to replace Pead.
The last name of the week is Danny Amendola. He's a PPR (point per catch) dream. He already has 20 grabs in two games for 230 yards and a score. He's been targeted 25 times and yet we act surprised. Amendola was hurt most of last year but in 2010 he had 85 catches for 689 yards and three touchdowns. He's clearly Sam Bradford's No. 1 target and should be owned in all leagues, yet he's still not.
Take a lesson from Rasheed Wallace and play some defense. Pick up Amendola before your competition does.
Aaron Korte is the A-T's fantasy sports writer. When he's not crying about the plight of Detroit sports teams, he can be reached at akorte@advertiser-tribune.com
